New Belgium Skinny Dip

I’ve discovered that bars in the tri-town area of my YMCA job is in the mountains. “Duh!” you might say. But there are consequences to being in the mountains that I had not realized, including the lack of distribution of a wide assortment of malt beverages. Bars have three types of beer: domestics, New Belgium, and Grand Lake. That’s. About. It. Because of this, I will soon have to change my tactics. Luckily after tomorrow, I will venture out of the mountains to elsewhere in the great state of Colorado, so hopefully I can stumble upon some variety, but until then, I’m sort of stuck. And, as it stands, so are you. Deal with it.

It’s getting cold up here, the nights constantly leave a heavy frost on the ground, but the days remain mild. Regardless, it is not weather that warrants a dip in a pool or lake, much less a skinny dip. Frankly, skinny dipping anywhere close to this altitude is foolish all year round, but the New Belgium Skinny Dip has found it’s way to the Rocky Mountains.

Now, the Skinny Dip is the New Belgium summer seasonal, so the beer wasn’t the freshest it could have been, but still boasted a multitude of interesting flavors. While light and crisp, the seasonal brew contains an interesting complexity that other seasonals sometime lack. Initially, it’s just another light beer, but there is a citrus aroma and flavor consistently through the experience. It isn’t fruity. It’s lime-y. It bypasses the normal candy-like taste of summer beers and brings a very distinct and interesting flavor, but the beer itself is still present.

If you’ve ever had a Corona with a lime, you know exactly the opposite of how this happens. Rather than the lime used to cover up the less-than-satisfactory beverage, it accents the beer to create a fuller experience. Of course, it’s a lighter beer, so there isn’t a huge, mind-blowing experience, but it’s a full experience, nonetheless.

And although the temperatures are decreasing, snow is threatening, and I have to start wearing socks, I’m lucky enough to still be able to go for a Skinny Dip.